[Preparation and characterization of zirconium hydroxide powder for fluoride adsorption]

The method co-precipitation was applied to preparation the zirconium hydroxide as a type drinking-water defluoridation adsorbent. The effect of the preparation conditions on the adsorptive capacity was studied. The optimization of preparation condition for zirconium hydroxide concludes that co-precipitation time is 10 h, pH value is 7.0, drying time is 72 h, calcination temperature is below 100 degrees C. Also, the adsorbent samples were characterized. SEM measurements reveal that zirconium hydroxide powder are constructed by several small particles, with a diameter about 20-30 microm. XRD and TG/DTA measurements show that the zirconium hydroxide samples have amorphous phase and converse to tetragonal phase when calcined at 600 degrees C. Nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements show that samples have large surface areas of 138.4 m2/g and a 2 nm average pore size distribution in the mesopore region. The performance of zirconium hydroxide regeneration process was investigated. The results show that the regeneration techniques are very suitable to restore the fluorine-removal ability for zirconium hydroxide.